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The rededication came at the culmination of a two-year project that renovated and refurbished the market that was long the heart of the west end community, but which in recent years had developed a reputation for less savory activities.
Speaker after speaker Friday paid tribute to the market – originally built in 1905 – and the square on which it stands, which was a community gathering place back into the 18th century. It was a place where Crucians bought locally grown food for their families, but also a center where neighbors shared news and forged an identity as a community. It can be again, speakers said.
“My heart leaps with joy with the rest of the Heyliger family to see the way they’ve brought this building back to its former glory,” said Al Franklin, president of Old Town Frederiksted, the group spearheading efforts to revitalize the west side city.
Franklin said the market harkens back to a time when St. Croix was considered the breadbasket of the Caribbean. Markets then didn’t have to send to South America or China for produce, he said.
“Way back then, 50 or more years ago, our people saw that they could feed us,” he said. “We can provide those things ourselves that were grown on our farms. We’ve done it before.”
Sen. Usie Richards, who was quick to note that Ann Heyliger was born Ann Richards, said he looks forward to the return of fresh vegetable sales in the market, but not as a curiosity or a picturesque background for tourists.
“They don’t want you to adore their produce,” he said, looking out at the marketplace where vendors had set up gorgeous displays of fruits and vegetables. “They want you to purchase their produce. Make use of the market and we’ll make sure we make use of their hard work.”
Making note of the Department of Agriculture’s slogan, “Buy local, eat fresh,” Gov. John deJongh Jr. said it was actually more than that. Buying fresh local produce isn’t just healthy, it’s good for the community.
“More appropriately, it’s ‘Buy local, employ local. If we employ local, we grow local. Then Virgin Fresh becomes a reality,” he said.
Several speakers urged the gathered audience to take ownership of the market, and asked that anyone who observes anything illegal there should take steps to stop it.
But the governor, while agreeing that the community has to work together to keep the space safe and clean, added, “We have to be mindful of the homeless … those who continue to need our help and our recognition.”
The market was named for Ann Heyliger by an act of the Senate in 1983. Heyliger was born in 1895 and grew up on a farm in Estate Annaly. When she married in 1913, she and her husband, Alexander Heyliger, began farming in Estate Pleasant Valley. According to the biographical information provided by the family, her acreage produced a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and meats, and sold her goods in the Frederiksted Market until she died in 1963.
The morning’s ceremony also included comments by Ann Heyliger’s granddaughter, Ann-Marie Hector, Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen, Agriculture Commissioner Louis Peterson, Assistant Tourism Commissioner Brad Nugent and Assistant Public Works Commissioner Luther Renee.
All the speakers praised the inter-departmental cooperation that brought the project to fruition, and had particular words of praise for the contractor, Wilson Construction.